Pool members share disputed lottery prize

The 20 postal workers will each get about $3,500. CLEVELAND (AP) -- A disputed $175,000 lottery prize has been split among 20 postal workers, some of whom filed a lawsuit to get their shares from a co-worker who said the winning ticket was his alone, not part of a pool. The shares amount to about $3,500, after taxes and lawyer fees. The co-workers appeared Tuesday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to claim their shares. Seven postal workers in suburban Olmsted Falls won a jury verdict last month after suing carrier Stephen Kyle, alleging he defrauded them. Some of the pool members chose not to join the lawsuit, but still qualified for winnings. Kyle, 51, of Amherst, claimed he had used his own money last June to buy the ticket with five of six numbers in a $280 million Mega Millions drawing. He said the pool's $100 worth of tickets yielded a single $2 winner, but he could not prove he used all $100 for the pool. Kyle could end up with the smallest check of all. He has to pay his lawyer, leaving him with $2,355, compared with the $125,125 he expected to collect as sole owner of the winning ticket. Several pool members who opted out of the lawsuit voiced displeasure with having to pay one-third of their winnings to the plaintiffs' attorneys.